How the Huckleberry Made Park Café a Must-Visit Site in Glacier National Park

From late summer through the early chill of fall, one of the most delightful fruits you’ve ever tasted grows wild like a real-life Brigadoon on the Montana mountains: the huckleberry.

Akin in flavor to a sour lollipop melding with a sugar glaze, huckleberries are beloved in Montana because, in addition to being unique to the region, they're a major source of tourism and industry. During peak season in Montana, you’ll find huckleberry fruit stands every other mile, gift shops hawking huckleberry lip balm and huckleberry soap, and restaurants serving huckleberry milkshakes and huckleberry pancakes. The huckleberry is less a fruit than it is a statewide symbol.

The pie is what got people to come back. That was what people were attracted to.

But the most popular place to enjoy huckleberries for both tourists and locals alike is Park Café in St. Mary, where the plump fruit comes in the form of one juicy, decadent huckleberry pie. The huckleberries lend the pie its pure, unadulterated sweetness, balanced out by just the right note of sour, and a hint of salt—all held together by a firm but flaky crust. It’s a distinct taste that is wildly addictive.

The café itself—a small, blink-and-you’d-miss-it shack crowned with a light blue-and-white sign lined with illustrations of the treats within—is a longtime Montana institution, located right outside the eastern entrance of one of the state’s most famous landmarks: Glacier National Park. Park Café has been operating since 1981, founded by local baker Kathryn Hiestand, her brother, Rob Hiestand, and her husband, Neal Miller. The Hiestand family leased the space from Ed and Helen Hilton, members of the Blackfoot tribe that owned the land, and Hiestand’s huckleberry pies quickly attracted a cult following among Glacier National Park locals and visitors—including former First Lady Laura Bush. In 2013, in a move that remains controversial among locals, the Hilton family didn't renew Hiestand's lease and took over Park Café operations, along with changing the famous “Pie for Strength” slogan to “The Power of Pie.”

But the café remains a central attraction of Glacier National Park — a landmark as famous as the glaciers themselves. From June to September, the place is perennially packed with park rangers, hikers, and other local residents wanting to snag a slice of the legendary pie.

What sets the huckleberry pie at Park Café apart from the hundreds of other huckleberry desserts that have since emerged in the area is, first and foremost, that it is one of the only spots that only uses huckleberries, instead of a mix of huckleberries and blueberries. According to Hilton, because huckleberries are so difficult to obtain (they grow exclusively at high elevations, only last for a few days once picked, and are hard to spot), they're expensive—around $40 a pound—so restaurants will cut corners by substituting in blueberries, which look similar. “The true taste of a huckleberry is the tartness of a raspberry and the sweetness of a blueberry,” he says. As soon as you add blueberries, that precise flavor alchemy is compromised. Park Café goes through around 500 gallons of huckleberries every season.

The other trick is the sugar level. “At higher elevations, the simple sugars inside huckleberries taste a lot sweeter,” Hilton says. “So if you don’t have the right proportions, the pie will taste too sweet.” The cafe balances out that sweetness with a pinch of salt, which also helps to brings out this pure huckleberry taste.

Park Café has customers of 30-plus years, and sees families stop off every single day they're at the park to enjoy pie amid the glacier views. He knows to expect the the park rangers on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday throughout huckleberry season for their habitual slice of Grizz Bear-y pie (a variation with huckleberries, marionberries, and blueberries, plus a pie scrap topper shaped into a bear). In the early afternoons, hikers will come by post-trek to share stories and tell visitors about the conditions of the trails.

“Montana is a very special atmosphere,” Hilton says. “This area is magnificent, and huckleberries are a unique part of that. These pies are a tradition. This café is a gathering place. I’m glad we can be that introduction for people.”

This article was originally published without details on the ownership change at Park Café. It has been updated.